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Blood pressure pill may ease racism: Study

A common prescription drug used to treat high blood pressure may also curb racist thoughts, a new U.K. study suggests.

University of Oxford researchers found people who took the drug propranolol showed less implicit racism — automatic, subconscious bias — than those who took a placebo.

Half of study participants were given the drug and the other half received a placebo. They were given prejudice tests before, during and after taking the pills. Participants were asked to quickly categorize positive and negative words with the faces of back and white people.

Although just 36 white men and women took part in the study, it provides new evidence about the processes in the brain that shape implicit racial bias, co-author Sylvia Terbeck said.

"Given the key role that such implicit attitudes appear to play in discrimination against other ethnic groups, and the widespread use of propranolol for medical purposes, our findings are also of considerable ethical interest," she said.